This week, the annual Winter Jazz Fest is on and in full swing. The 15th edition of the increasingly popular showcase expanded again, with a third “mini marathon” night of music on Saturday January 5th and several standalone events, which we previewed here. In this post, we’ll take a look at the two marathon nights of music on Friday January 11th and Sunday January 12th in venues scattered around the heart of Greenwich Village.

As we’ve done for the past few years, we’ll go through a shows with a viewers’ guide to some of our preferred picks, with an admitted lean toward former guests on the Suga in My Bowl radio show.

I’ll point you toward the Friday and Saturday schedules and artist lineup, but hopefully this will help wade through the myriad choices available each night. Obviously, there are several ways to experience the festival. You can either pick and choose key acts, take a more eclectic approach and see what you find, or some combination of the two. It’s all good.

FESTIVAL THEME AND FOCUS

The theme is again on social justice, as it has been for the last few years. This year, following on the heels of #MeToo, the spotlight has shifted to women’s role in music. The We Have Voice Collective was initiated by several female musicians, including Fay Victor, Nicole Mitchell, Linda May Han Oh, Jen Shyu, Imani Uzuri, and Tia Fuller. Their open letter calls for a code of conduct, establishing safe spaces for women, LGBTQIA, transgender, and non-binary artists working in music and more opportunities for work in a field that’s often dominated by men. Festival co-organi and support of the broader discussion around Black Lives Matter, a theme that festival producer Brice Rosenbloom has committed to gender parity for the festival, noting in an essay in the 2019 program that while WJF has taken steps of its own, he sees that there’s still more work to be done and that the next step is pushing individual bandleaders to commit to more gender balance in their groups.

This year’s artist-in-residence is Meshell Ndgeocello, who has several sets of her own and will be part of an afternoon panel discussion on Saturday January 12.

TICKETS AND ADMISSION

WJF has ticket options for either the Friday or Saturday marathon nights–or both–but they don’t offer tickets for individual sets. That said, they’re a pretty good deal for how much music you get if you see more than a single show and there’s likely something to suit almost everyone’s taste. The one constant is that we strongly recommend getting tickets in advance, since the festival’s popularity does lead to sellouts.

LOCATIONS AND LOGISTICS

The WJF’s heart is still in the center of the Village: with venerable institutions Zinc Bar, The Bitter End, and Le Poisson Rouge returning, but the spaces at the New School that have been used for the last two years are gone and as a result the festival’s more scattered, with poles in the West and East Village also.

Zinc Bar is small and popular, so be warned that seeing an act scheduled there means getting there very early, and possibly skipping something else in the process.

On the western frontier of the Village and Tribeca are SOB’s and the SOHO Playhouse.

Nublu, Bowery Ballroom, Subculture, The Sheen Center, Public Arts, Mercury Lounge, and Bowery Ballroom are clustered together on the East Village/Lower East Side

Obviously, figuring out what one wants to see also means taking into account the logistics of who’s playing where and getting between venues, which requires more planning with the larger distances this year. It’s still very possible to venue-hop since most are a brisk walk, Citibike, or cab ride away.

Photo credit: Winter Jazz Fest (screenshot)
You can download the map here and there’s a copy in the festival program. Pickup of wristbands for marathon nights is at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St).

Zinc Bar has an enticing lineup for the night and one good enough to consider staying put. The caveat is that it’s been too small for the festival for a long time, which means long lines to get in and a tight, crowded experience once you’re there. Should you decide to go, however, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen opens the night with a 6:40 PM set and at 9:20 PM the Borderlands trio takes the stage with pianist Kris Davis, bassist Stephen Crump, and drummer Eric McPherson. The following 10:40 PM set with the Artifiacts Trio featuring flutist Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid, and drummer Mike Reed should be an extremely satisfying one.

Over at the Sheen Center, guitarist Mary Halvorson brings her Code Girl project to the stage at 8:40 PM. Halvorson’s dense, looping electric guitar style’s attracting more fans, both as a side player and as a leader. Her collaborations with fellow guitarist Marc Ribot and others showcase her ability as a collaborative player capable of adding dense textures to an ensemble, which she’s continued in her own projects as a leader. For a deep dive, see our March 2018 show with Halvorson.

Meanwhile at Subculture in the 9:40 PM set, pianist Aaron Parks will work through his 2018 Little Big release, which is gaining a lot of deserved attention.

Over at Mercury Lounge, saxophonist Marcus Strickland‘s Twi Life is a solid pick in the 10:40 PM slot for anyone looking for a fresh take on the music rooted in the jazz tradition, yet incorporating funk, soul, and elements of hip hop. For a deeper dive see our recent show with Strickland as part of our 2019 WJF coverage.

For you real night owls or hardcore fans of the after-hours scene, Nublu‘s 1 AM Late Night Jam Session led by trumpeter Jamie Branch is worth making your way over to the Lower East Side for. Branch’s debut 2018 Fly Or Die release gained the attention of a lot of people who might not have caught her while woodshedding at the Vision Festival or other venues.

SATURDAY JANUARY 12th

The piano duo of Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn kick things off with a 6:20 PM set at Le Poisson Rouge. Iyer shouldn’t need much introduction at this point, but his densely layered, nearly cinematic works have kept him busy touring when he’s not teaching at Harvard. The conversation between the two should yield a heady, exciting set that will reward close listening yet still being accessible. For a much deeper dive, see our 2015 show featuring Iyer.

Later on at LPR, veteran drummer Billy Hart‘s quartet sets up in the 9 PM time slot. Hart, who earned his chops as a member of Herbie Hancock’s groundbreaking and forward-looking 1970s Mwandishi band is now a key member of The Cookers superband when not helming his own ensemble. Expect a high energy straight ahead set that’ll swing hard.

Over at SOB’s, vocalist Fay Victor and saxophonist Nubya Garcia present compelling cases for going there. Victor’s 6:40 PM set with Mutations for Justice reprises the concept she’s workshopped over the past year and done versions of at last year’s Winter Jazz and Vision Festivals. Victor’s avant-garde vocal style meshes well with that of her band and speaks directly to the current political period, with some of her lyrics sounding like a stream of consciousness voice from Trump’s brain and critiquing the absolute absurdity of it all. Nubya Garcia’s 9:30 PM set might provide some revelations, as it did for me when I heard her open for Thursday night’s concert with sax greats Gary Bartz and Pharoah Sanders. When asked about how it felt to open for them, she said: “I can’t really put that into words. It’s very surreal and a huge honor.” Garcia’s style seemed a natural pairing and her set was an energetic one led by her playing paired with strong, bass-heavy drumming and trippy, dub-inflected keyboards. If you want to see one possible future of what jazz looks like, see her.

Over on the east side, Subculture has some appealing sets with Liebman, Rudolph, & Drake combining the powers of Dave Liebman and percussionists Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake at 9:20 PM. Expect, obviously, a percussion-heavy set but one marked by African rhythms and rich textures set off by Liebman’s work on sax and piano.

You may want to stay put for J.D. Allen and David Murray‘s midnight set, which should keep you alert with the dueling tenor saxophones of the co-leaders. Murray’s capable of playing both “in” and “out” and matching lyricism with pure energy.

To tip my hand somewhat, I’ll probably post up at The Sheen Center, a new venue this year. If you missed saxophonist Gary Bartz‘s historic Thursday night set with Charles Tolliver and Pharoah Sanders, you have another chance to catch him in the 8:20 PM set with Pocket Science, where he teams up with colorful (in every sense of the word) electric bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but Tacuma’s funk and harmolodics-inspired riffs should give Bartz a nice foundation to launch from.

At 11 PM, pianist/vocalist Amina Claudine Myers slows things down a bit with a quieter, more contemplative set that’ll showcase her thoughtful lyrics and vocal ability. Myers is joined by three other vocalists here, so expect some interesting interplay between them.

That’s a lot! But the nice thing about Winter Jazz is that it presents you with a good dilemma: who to choose from the sheer amount of interesting acts. We’ll check back in after it’s all wrapped up.

Are you planning to go? Who are you looking forward to seeing? Let us know in the comments.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Lehman College in The Bronx.

In New York City this week, it’s cold, wet, gets dark insanely early, and unending service changes lend a Chess-like complexity to late night or weekend subway trips. Such is the state of winter in the Big Apple, but just when we get close to peak Seasonal Affective Disorder, the annual Winter Jazz Fest blows in to give you a reason to rush out and brave the cold for a weekend. 130 reasons, in fact–the number of acts the festival boasts spread across its multi-day span—with some 600-odd musicians making things happen.

The 14th edition of the ever-expanding annual showcase follows a familiar format: two marathon nights of music in venues scattered around the heart of Greenwich Village, with a few standalone opening and closing events – some of which are already sold out—and we’re told that tickets for even the marathon nights are going fast.

As we’ve done for the past few years, we’ll go through a shows with a viewers’ guide to some of our preferred picks, with an admitted lean toward former guests on our Suga in My Bowlradio show.

I’ll point you toward the full schedule for Friday January 12 and Saturday January 13 marathon nights and artist lineup, but hopefully this will help wade through the myriad choices available each night. Obviously, there are several ways to experience the festival. You can either pick and choose key acts, take a more eclectic approach and see what you find, or some combination of the two. It’s all good.

FESTIVAL THEME AND FOCUS

Following the lead of last year’s event, the festival again tackles themes of social justice. This is most clearly addressed through three different talks during the course of the festival.

“Jazz on the Border” will highlight issues around US visa laws and their impact on musicians. Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington moderates the “Jazz and Gender” panel, which includes Angela Davis and pianist Vijay Iyer among the panelists.

“The Long March: a Conversation on Jazz and Protest” on Tuesday the 16th is the only one with an admission fee, but is easily worth the price. Saxophonist Ras Moshe, who’s becoming well known in free and avant garde jazz circles, moderates the talk among saxophonist Archie Shepp, flutist Nicole Mitchell, and pianist Samora Pinderhughes.

The above talk immediately precedes a concert by Nicole Mitchell, who is this year’s resident artist. Mitchell will present a new release, Mandorla Awakening II, a sci-fi themed Afrofuturist composition. She also fronts Maroon Cloud with vocalist Fay Victor on Wednesday the 17th at Le Poisson Rouge.

Mitchell has a couple of appearances during the Friday/Saturday marathon nights. “Art and Anthem for Gwendolyn Brooks” honors the late Chicago poet and features pianist Jason Moran.

If you (understandably) don’t want to wade through the wall of words here, you can just scroll to picks for the first marathon day on Friday or second day on Saturday.

TICKETS AND ADMISSION

WJF has several options available for the standalone shows, marathon nights (either one or both) or full festival passes for the hardcore enthusiasts. The one constant is that we strongly recommend tickets in advance, since even with the expanded venues at the New School, it’s possible to get closed out of nights–and you save some money over buying at the door. The “marathon” nights on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th are sold for the entire night only: not for individual shows. They’re still a pretty good deal for how much music you get if you see more than a single show, and there’s likely something to suit almost everyone’s taste. 2-day passes and full festival passes get entrance to the marathon days as well. Separate tickets are available for the opening and closing events, with the exception of events that sell out.

Recommendation: Consider the 2-day marathon pass even if you can only make it for parts both evenings since that saves you even more.

LOCATIONS AND LOGISTICS

The WJF’s heart is still in the center of the Village: with venerable institutions Zinc Bar, The Bitter End, and Le Poisson Rouge returning. The New School continues as a festival sponsor and provides several spaces for the festival in its campus clustered around 13th Street off Fifth Avenue, including some much needed larger venues. All of these are close enough to comfortably (though maybe briskly) walk between for sets. Zinc Bar is small and popular, so be warned that seeing an act scheduled there means getting there very early, and possibly skipping something else in the process. Quite frankly, last year I opined that it needed to be dropped. WJF has simply outgrown the venerable space and it’s unfair to stick artists in there.

On the western frontier of the Village and Tribeca are SOB’s and the Django at the Roxy Hotel.

Nublu’s new(ish) second location at 151 Avenue C, between 9-10 Streets returns this year. It’s a brisk walk or quick bus or L train ride away from the action clustered near the center.

Subculture and Bowery Ballroom are clustered together on the Lower East Side and round out this year’s venues.

Obviously, figuring out what one wants to see also means taking into account the logistics of who’s playing where and getting between venues.

The Colsons have been playing together since the 70s, with Steve’s piano and Iqua’s vocals taking an innovative look at nearly everything they’ve done. Trombonist Craig Harris joins them this evening in a tribute to the late pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, a co-collaborator in the New York chapter of AACM. It’s a rare opportunity to see them.

Sons of Kemet 7:40 PM at Le Poisson Rouge

Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings may not be a household name on the US—yet—but he’s been steadily making a name for himself on the UK jazz scene with various groups. He returns following a successful US debut last year with Shabaka and the Ancestors. Sons of Kemet has a bass-heavy sound with a tuba prominently featured in the front line with Hutchings’s free-form playing flying above it. For a deep dive, see our show on him last month.

Vocalist Fay Victor is another name that you might not know, but you should. Victor came to my attention through the NYC avant garde jazz scene and Vision Festival, where she’s been a staple for years. However, that’s selling her short. Her prodigious vocal talent, songwriting ability, and commitment to the music only became completely clear to me during out recent show with her. In this set, expect a broad approach to the jazz tradition drawing deeply from the Blues. It won’t be a straight ahead set, and that’s a good thing.

James Brandon Lewis’s Unruly Notes 11 PM Zinc Bar

Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has been steadily woodshedding and the fruits of his labor are becoming clear. His regular trio including bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Warren Trae Crudup have expanded to include electric guitarist Anthony Pirog, who featured prominently on their last release. Here, the concept expands even further with trumpeter Jamie Branch. The band plays hard—though with increasing finesse—buoyed by Crudup’s steady backbeat. Lewis’s style leans toward the avant garde end of the spectrum, but that’s just one of many lenses he uses to approach nearly everything from hip hop to Anton Dvorzak compositions and feed them through the jazz tradition. The most unfortunate thing about this set is the location, which has been way too small for WJF for years now. You’ll have to come very early and probably wait on line for a while, but the set will be so very worth it.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition 11:20 PM at Bowery Ballroom

Meanwhile, over on the east side, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition takes the Bowery stage. True to their name, expect an eastern-inflected take on jazz. It’s a late start time, but a solid backup if you decide that the wait to enter Zinc Bar is too daunting.

SATURDAY JANUARY 13 HIGHLIGHTS

Jazzmeia Horn 7 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave

Vocalist Jazzmeia Horn’s fortunes have been rising recently with a Grammy nomination for her debut release A Social Call. Horn’s already moved past where she was at the time of the recording, however. Horn is scarily talented, and enthusiasm to push the limits of her instrument will see her scatting, rapping, and marshalling a range of vocalizations in the space of a single performance. Horn’s an example of a young talent showing a different and fresh approach to jazz that attempts to join standards and the jazz tradition with younger audiences and the pop influence. Commendably, though, she does this without resorting to gimmicks and a refusal to sacrifice the jazz tradition. We’ve got an interview with her cued up for a future show, so stay tuned!

Antonio Sanchez and Migration 7:40 PM at Le Poisson Rouge

Drummer Antonio Sanchez is a busy man. In addition to heading his own migration ensemble, he’s been touring with guitarist Pat Metheny and the occasional gig with vocalist Thana Alexa, who’ll be with him here.

In what has to be one of the most daring sets of the festival, Harriet Tubman will be taking a crack at riffing off of Ornette Coleman’s masterpiece Free Jazz. Here, the Tubman power trio of electric guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and drummer JT Lewis will be joined by the lineup from saxophonist James Brandon Lewis’s Unruly Notes (see above) and saxophonist Darius Jones. It promises to be a wild ride. Gibbs deserves credit for the idea, which will be less a note-for-note recreation of the original than using it as a springboard for Coleman’s harmolodic approach and a modern take at what would happen if two different groups played together at the same time, improvising among themselves and riffing off each other.

Nicholas Peyton’s Afro Caribbean Mixtape 9:20 PM at SOB’s

Trumpeter Peyton’s Mixtape builds on snippets of speeches by Dr. Greg Kimathi Carr, who heads Howard University’s Afro American Studies Department. The recording blends Peyton’s ethereal trumpet lines with remixed snippets of sound. Peyton’s set should lean toward the pop/ electronic end of the spectrum. It’ll be a completely different approach from the maelstrom of the Tubman set. They’ll both be good in different ways.

Rene Marie 10:20 PM at Subculture

On a much different note than much of what I’ve presented, vocalist Rene Marie promises an intense, straight ahead set. Marie’s focus on technique, straight singing, and ballads provide a quieter, more contemplative experience than some of the more raucous acts at WJF. If that’s your speed, then you know where to go.

Sun Ra Arkestra Plays Live Score to Space is the Place 11 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave

You could do much worse than just camp out the entire evening in the cavernous Tishman Auditorium. Like the previous Harriet Tubman set, we find the Arkestra digging back into the archives for inspiration. In this case, it’s a take on the 1974 film starring Sun Ra himself and directed by John Coney with substantial input from Ra. In a nutshell, Ra and the Arkestra return to Earth in their music-powered spaceship to take Black people with them from the decaying planet with “sounds of guns, anger, and frustration” and “see what they can do on a planet all of their own.” With touches of sci-fi, soul, and a hint of Blaxploitation, it’s the expected wild ride, with music and appearances from the Arkestra weaved through several scenes. It’s not clear how the current Arkestra will approach the task, though Arkestra veterans Marshall Allen and Danny Ray Thompson were part of the original production and will be in the house along with newer members. Whatever happens, it’ll be a way-out adventure.

Jamaladeen Tacuma Brotherzone 1 AM at Subculture

You’ll have to stay up really late for this set, but if you do, you’ll be treated to a funky set from the alum of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band that, in his words draws on the “sounds of soul, funk, jazz, rock, ambient poetics and the vibrations of life.” As a special treat, Abiodun Oyewole from The Last Poets will lay down some of his poetry.

If you haven’t had enough already–or skip one of the marathon days–then there’s a single concert on offer Sunday night, but it’s a good one. In this separate ticketed event, saxophonist Coltrane presents some of his mother Alice’s music. Coltrane will build on the Indian-influenced sound of Alice’s later work, especially Translinear Light (2004).

MONDAY JANUARY 15 HIGHLIGHT

A Tribute to Geri Allen 8 PM at New School Tishman Auditorium 63 5th Ave

Drummer Geri Allen has assembled a stunning cast to pay tribute to the late Geri Allen, who died last year. The concert is a fundraiser for the Geri Allen estate, so tickets are separate, but it’ll be a memorable event for a pianist who left a big mark on the music and left us way too soon.

That’s just scratching the surface of the festival, but hopefully there are a few ideas here for starters. I’ll be at many of the shows highlighted, though admit to still making up my mind. The good news is that there’s enough here that it’s hard to go wrong and even if a set doesn’t live up to expectations, there’s another one that’s bound to more than make up for it. See you on the other side. I’ll be back with a festival review.

Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York. Find him on Twitter: @streetgriot

Director Kaspar Collin’s excellent I Called Him Morgan film documents the interconnected life and downfall of the late, brilliant trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common law wife Helen Morgan and is getting an impressively wide release for a documentary film on a jazz musician. We published a lengthy review of the film, too.

One of the film’s standout features is the amount of interviews with musicians who knew and could give firsthand accounts on their remembrances of Lee and Helen. That drove Suga’ in My Bowl host Joyce Jones into the digital archives and she dug up excerpts from previous shows with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and pianist Harold Mabern for snippets on Lee Morgan. Check them out below.

Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.

This week’s show concludes our 2017 2017 Winter Jazz Fest coverage with return visits by low brass specialist Joe Daley and Ruth Cameron, Charlie Haden’s widow and producer of several Haden albums. The Liberation Music Orchestra closes the Winter Jazz Fest on Tuesday January 10 at Le Poisson Rouge with pianist Geri Allen as a special guest. Ruth Cameron will be part of a panel discussion right before the show in the same location. Daley will be at Terra Blues with Hazmat Modine on the 21st. You can see our review of the Winter Jazz Fest right here later this week. Now on to the rest of the week’s events.

Bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake team up for a Roy Campbell tribute on January 9 and again on the 16 and 18 at the Clemente Soto Velez Center as part of Arts for Art’s Justice is Compassion series.

Not to be outdone by the Winter Jazz Fest, Vision Fest promoters Arts for Art is again sponsoring a nearly monthlong series from January 2-22nd of music, poetry, dance, and visual art titled “Justice is Compassion/ Not a Police State” at the Clemente Soto Velez Center on the Lower East Side. Poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez, bassist William Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, drummer/percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN, and dancer Patricia Nicholson Parker are just a few of the many involved. See the full schedule of 65 performances at their website.

That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is scheduled to be back on WBAI‘s airwaves on January 22nd. We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York. Find him on Twitter @streetgriot

This week, the Winter Jazz Fest is blowing back into town. The 13th edition of the ever-expanding annual showcase follows a familiar format: two marathon nights of music in venues scattered around the heart of Greenwich Village, with a few standalone opening and closing events – some of which are already sold out — and we’re told that tickets for even the marathon nights are going fast.

I’ll point you toward the full schedule and artist lineup, but hopefully this will help wade through the myriad choices available each night. Obviously, there are several ways to experience the festival. You can either pick and choose key acts, take a more eclectic approach and see what you find, or some combination of the two. It’s all good.

FESTIVAL THEME AND FOCUS

This year’s theme is social justice and support of the broader discussion around Black Lives Matter, a theme that festival organizer Brice Rosenbloom notes came from the artists themselves: so many of them submitted proposals along those lines that it made sense to simply make the official festival theme reflect their work.

2017 WJF Resident Artist Andrew Cyrille | Photo credit: Joyce Jones

Other festival highlights are programming around groundbreaking pianist Thelonious Monk as 2017 marks the centennial of his birth and the selection of drummer/percussionist Andrew Cyrille as this year’s artist in residence. In addition to playing at the festival, Cyrille will be in conversation about his career and jazz on Saturday the 8th at 1 PM at The New School where he teaches. There are several other talks as well and you can browse the entire schedule to see what’s on offer.

WJF has several options available for the standalone shows, marathon nights (either one or both) or full festival passes for the hardcore enthusiasts. The one constant is that we strongly recommend getting tickets in advance, since even with the expanded venues at the New School, it’s possible to get closed out of nights. The “marathon” nights on Friday the 6th and Saturday the 7th are sold for the entire night only: not for individual shows. They’re still a pretty good deal for how much music you get if you see more than a single show, and there’s likely something to suit almost everyone’s taste. 2-day passes and full festival passes get entrance to the marathon days as well. Separate tickets are necessary for the opening and closing events, with the exception of events that sell out, such as Pharaoh Sanders’ show on Thursday the 5th.

LOCATIONS AND LOGISTICS

The WJF’s heart is still in the center of the Village: with venerable institutions Zinc Bar, The Bitter End, and Le Poisson Rouge returning. Gone is the historic Judson Memorial Church, which has served as a check-in location and performance venue for the past two years. The New School continues as a festival sponsor and provides several spaces for the festival in its campus clustered around 13th Street off Fifth Avenue, including some much needed larger venues. All of these are close enough to comfortably (though maybe briskly) walk between for sets. Zinc Bar is small and popular, so be warned that seeing an act scheduled there means getting there very early, and possibly skipping something else in the process.

On the western frontier of the Village and Tribeca are SOB’s and the Django at the Roxy Hotel.

Nublu, the East Village mainstay, serves up their new satellite location at 151 Avenue C, between 9-10 Streets. It’s a brisk walk or quick bus or L train ride away from the action clustered near the center.

Bowery Electric, Subculture, and Bowery Ballroom are clustered together on the Lower East Side and round out this year’s venues.

Obviously, figuring out what one wants to see also means taking into account the logistics of who’s playing where and getting between venues.

The festival kicks off with the returning Jazz Legends for Disability Pride benefit concert at the Quaker Friends Meeting Hall. It’s the brainchild of pianist/organist Mike LeDonne, whose made it his mission. There’s a solid lineup on offer, including veteran pianist Harold Mabern.

Pharaoh Sanders | Joyce Jones Photo

Our pick for the night, however is the concert with saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders, with Shabaka and the Ancestors as opening act. Unfortunately, tickets are sold out, but it’s worth following the event’s Facebook page for possible last minute ticket releases or a wait list.

If you have tickets (or are willing to go the standby route), there’s the possibility of an extremely inspired and definitely memorable show by a jazz legend who’s earned his stripes and still plays with incredible intensity at times considering his age and the demands of his instrument.

Sanders is known for his early career work with Sun Ra, his appearances on John Coltrane’s later albums, followed by work with Alice Coltrane and his own solo career work. His signature style seemed to pick up where Coltrane left off with avant garde pieces of an epic scale and unrestrained playing that saw him push the limits of the instrument.

Sanders’s current playing has mellowed somewhat, but still shows the sings of his virtuosity and incredible command of the saxophone

Sanders’s current playing has mellowed somewhat, but still shows the sings of his virtuosity and incredible command of the saxophone, whether he’s going through his own work or covers of other artists. Not surprisingly, Coltrane covers appear regularly on his set list, but you might hear anything from the Blues (BB King’s “Every Day I Sing the Blues”) to versions of his own work, including “You’ve Got To Have Freedom” and crowd favorite “The Creator Has a Master Plan”. Last year, his performance at the Red Bull Music Academy’s “Night of Spiritual Jazz” seemed to inspire Sanders to pull out all the stops, including a searing version of Coltrane’s “Olé”, which matched anything he’s done recently. For a deeper dive see our show with him.

Pianist/vocalist Amina Claudine Myers takes the stage at 6:40 PM at New School’s 12th Street Auditorium. Myers is comfortable playing both highly improvised music as well as more straight ahead jazz. With a solo performance scheduled, we’d expect a lyrical, melodic set from Myers. For a deeper dive into her work see our show and interview with her.

Meanwhile, trombonist Craig Harris takes the stage at 7 PM around the corner in the appropriately expansive New School Tishman Auditorium for an epic work he titled “Breathe” in a clear nod to the late Eric Garner, who was choked to death by the NYPD. Harris put out a call last fall for musicians to collaborate with him on the work and the response was overwhelming and resulted in an electrifying performance that you can catch a version of. The 23-person ensemble includes Dick Griffin and Joe Daley (trombones).

In Tribeca at SOB’s at 7 PM, Brooklyn Raga Massive’s Coltrane Tribute is worth a look. Coltrane began looking toward the East–both spiritually and musically—and BRM looks at ‘Trane from the opposite direction, with an Indian-inflected look at Coltrane’s work with a heavy does of improvisation that’s the basis for both musical traditions. Pianist/keyboardist Marc Cary and harpist Brandee Younger join the collective this time for what should be a particularly raucous set of music.

Back at New School’s Tishman Auditorium at 8:20 PM, drummer Andrew Cyrille and saxophonist Bill McHenry take the stage. The two collaborated on the 2016 Proximity (Sunnyside) release, which should be a good guide for their set. The interplay between the two creates a very intimate space that lets them go between far-out avant garde playing, and more introspective, contemplative work.

Following that set, Songs of Freedom takes the Tishman Auditorium stage at 9:40 PM with vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater offering her take on the festival theme. One could do worse than simply camping out in that venue for the evening.

David Murray at the 2016 WJF | Photo credit: Hank Williams

Around the corner, saxophonist David Murray leads his Class Struggle ensemble at New School’s 12th Street Auditorium at 10:40 PM. Murray was a featured performer at last year’s WJF, where he was workshopping some new material along with existing pieces. Expect a hard-hitting set from the ensemble here from the versatile Murray, who is as comfortable playing “out” as he is swinging hard. Here he is at the Vision Fest a few years ago.

There’s a tough call for the late set, so I’ll present both possibilities. At 12:20 AM at SOB’s, guitarist Vernon Reid’s Zig Zag Trio with drummer/percussionist Will Calhoun and bassist Melvin Gibbs promises a memorable set for fans of fusion or rock, which is to be expected from a trio with members drawn from Living Colour and Harriet Tubman. However, they’re equally influenced by the work of the late drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson and the electric blues as well. I’ll point you to my write-ups from their winter and summer shows last year at Iridium for more details, but it’s a show not to be missed. There are plans for a recording session this spring, but until then, you’ll have to settle for catching them live. Here they are in a live show last year.

Closer to the center of the action, a quartet anchored by the incredibly prolific bassist William Parker, who leads one of the many permutations of his In Order to Survive ensemble with frequent collaorator drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, go onstage at New School’s 12th Street Auditorium in the slightly earlier midnight slot. Expect a highly avant garde, improvised set from the quartet, who are all vets of Arts for Art’s Vision Fest. You can go to our show with Drake for a deeper look at his work or see the video of them raising the roof at the 2012 Vision Fest.

Drummer Jaimeo Brown’s Transcendence kicks off the evening set at SOB’s. Their 2016 Worksongs (Motéma) release was a stunning example of Jazz, hip hop, Blues, and pop done right. The release mixed classic prison worksongs with sampled/ looped sounds and the improvisation of Brown’s ensemble laid on top of it all. This set is one that should appeal to listeners who lean more toward the pop and hip hop end of the spectrum, while possibly drawing in a few who can appreciate thoughtful contemporary reworkings of the classics. What they do is easy to mess up and difficult to do right. Transcendence nailed the balance with this one.

If your tastes swing more to the avant garde and electric end of the scale, then consider guitarist Mary Halvorson Octet’s 7 PM set at The New School’s 5th Floor Theater. Halvorson’s been gigging around New York City for a while now and is starting to emerge as a leader in her own right. (A recent profile by NPR’s Joel Rose should help her cause too.) The group features an ensemble of emerging young players who work together on various projects. Halvorson’s enticing electric guitar combined with Susan Alcorn’s steel pedal guitar should yield yet another highly experimental, innovative set. It’s one of WJF’s smaller spaces, so the hot tip is to get there early.

Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and the Ancestors are at Le Poisson Rouge at 7:40 PM. If you didn’t get a ticket for Thursday’s show, then you have another shot to catch them.

At 8:40 PM, there are two groups going head to head that you might consider. Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and pianist David Virelles team up for a duo at New School’s Tishman Auditorium. Expect a melodic set from the duo with contemplative passages and occasional bursts of fire.

Also on tap in the 8:40 PM slot is percussionist Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures who are at Subculture. The ensemble includes incredibly versatile drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake and Graham Haynes on cornet.

In a different direction, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington leads Social Science at SOB’s in the 9:20 PM set. Carrington’s no stranger to the WJF, having previously performed with David Murray and Geri Allen. This time, Carrington’s teamed up with keyboards, vocals, and a DJ, so we expect a set that’ll lean in the pop direction.

Later on in the evening, Zinc Bar hosts two sets featuring current and former members of the Sun Ra Arkestra at 10:20 and 11:40 PM under the “OUT OF RA” banner. George Burton’s Quintet has the earlier set, while drummer/percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN Superband has the later set. An expanded AfroHORN features poet Abiodun Oyewole whose probably best known for his work with The Last Poets and fellow Arkestra alum Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet. Look for extremely improvisational free-form sets with both groups using the concepts of the Arkestra as springboards for their own work. The issue with both of them will likely be getting into Zinc, since it’s one of the smallest WJF spaces and known for lines. Seeing either of these groups might mean sacrificing an earlier set or a dinner break to line up.

If the above doesn’t work out, then a solid backup plan for the 10:20 PM set is another performance by WJF artist-in-residence Andrew Cyrille, this time with Haitian Fascination at the spacious New School 12th Street Auditorium.

Marc Ribot and the Young Philadelphians: It’s an idea that seems too crazy to work, but work indeed it does

Yet another pick (and probably where I’ll end up) is the 10:40 PM set at SOB’s with guitarist Marc Ribot and the Young Philadelphians. The group—one of many different combinations Ribot is involved with—reworks classic 1970s hits from the disco era into improvisational masterpieces with a dual electric guitar attack by Ribot and Mary Halvorson with backing by bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma and drummer G. Calvin Weston and a string section. It’s an idea that seems too crazy to work, but work indeed it does. Weston and Tacuma are alums of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time ensembles, so there’s a healthy does of harmolodics as well. They brought the house down the last two times they appeared at WJF with their high energy level is high and infectiously good grooves.

If you can manage to stay up late again, harpist Brandee Younger leads a trio at Nublu that’s worth a look. Last year, Younger’s WJF set was dedicated to the late Jazz harp pioneer Dorothy Ashby, whose work had a large influence on her. This year, you’ll probably still hear some Ashby, but some Alice Coltrane and some of her own compositions are likely on tap as well.

If all that weren’t enough already, the WJF has standalone sets on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with separate admission for each. Sunday, the show goes on the road to Littlefield in Brooklyn and is all about Monk, with 12 different musicians interpreting his Solo Monk album. Marc Ribot, Andrew Cyrille, David Virelles, and Hamid Drake are some of the ones tasked with interpreting Monk’s angular stylings.

Monday and Tuesday finds WJF back in the Village at Le Poission Rouge. Andrew Cyrille has a solo set on Monday.

On Tuesday, WJF goes out swinging hard with the Liberation Music Orchestra, led this time by pianist Geri Allen. The LMO was a project of the late bassist Charlie Haden and took an explicitly political tone in its work. Like the Sun Ra Arkestra, it’s being kept alive by its members (and is usually helmed by pianist Carla Bley). Expect a rousing set to close out the festival.

We’ll be wrapping up our radio coverage of this year’s event on Sunday January 8 at 11 PM on WBAI Radio (99.5 FM or streaming online) with a preview of the Liberation Music Orchestra’s performance and an interview with Joe Daley.

Are you planning to go? Who are you looking forward to seeing? Let us know in the comments.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.

Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.

We’re off this week, but head on over to our archives for last week’s show with drummer/percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett and a quick discussion with trombonist Craig Harris and nearly 7 years of archived shows. Catlett and Harris are both at this year’s 2017 Winter Jazz Fest, which is the big news this week. You can see Harris lead his “Breathe” composition on the first marathon night of music on January 6th at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium. Catlett leads AfroHORN on the second marathon night at Zinc Bar on the 7th and later in the month at Clemente Soto Velez Center on the 19th. We recommend getting to Zinc Bar extremely early for the Catlett show and we’re told that WJF tickets are selling out fast. Check back on Monday for our annual in-depth Cheat Sheet festival preview! Now on to the rest of the week’s events.

Poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez reads and dancer Patricia Nicholson Parker performs in separate sets on January 7 at the Clemente Soto Velez Center as part of Arts for Art’s monthlong Justice is Compassion series.

Bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake team up for a Roy Campbell tribute on January 9 and again on the 16 and 18 at the Clemente Soto Velez Center as part of Arts for Art’s Justice is Compassion series.

Not to be outdone by the Winter Jazz Fest, Vision Fest promoters Arts for Art is again sponsoring a nearly monthlong series from January 2-22nd of music, poetry, dance, and visual art titled “Justice is Compassion/ Not a Police State” at the Clemente Soto Velez Center on the Lower East Side. Poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez, bassist William Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, drummer/percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN, and dancer Patricia Nicholson Parker are just a few of the many involved. See the full schedule of 65 performances at their website.

The annual Winter Jazz Fest blows through town from January 5-10. We already mentioned Francisco Mora Catlett and AfroHORN and Craig Harris’s “Breathe”. Other festival highlights include an opening concert by saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders on the 5th, a closing performance by the Liberation Music Orchestra led by pianist Geri Allen on the 10th as a tribute to the late bassist Charlie Haden, and two marathon nights of music on the 7th and 8th. Drummer Andrew Cyrille is artist in residence and the festival theme is social justice. There are way too many former show guests there to mention, the full schedule is already up and we’ll have our own annual Cheat Sheet festival guide up right here on Monday January 2nd.

That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is scheduled to be back on WBAI‘s airwaves on January 8th. We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.

Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.

Poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez reads and dancer Patricia Nicholson Parker performs in separate sets on January 7 at the Clemente Soto Velez Center as part of Arts for Art’s monthlong Justice is Compassion series.

Bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake team up for a Roy Campbell tribute on January 9 and again on the 16 and 18 at the Clemente Soto Velez Center as part of Arts for Art’s Justice is Compassion series.

Not to be outdone by the Winter Jazz Fest, Vision Fest promoters Arts for Art is again sponsoring a nearly monthlong series from January 2-22nd of music, poetry, dance, and visual art titled “Justice is Compassion/ Not a Police State” at the Clemente Soto Velez Center on the Lower East Side. Poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez, bassist William Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, drummer/percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN, and dancer Patricia Nicholson Parker are just a few of the many involved. See the full schedule of 65 performances at their website.

Finally, the annual Winter Jazz Fest blows through town from January 5-10. We already mentioned Francisco Mora Catlett and AfroHORN and Craig Harris’s “Breathe”. Other festival highlights include an opening concert by saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders on the 5th, a closing performance by the Liberation Music Orchestra led by pianist Geri Allen on the 10th as a tribute to the late bassist Charlie Haden, and two marathon nights of music on the 7th and 8th. Drummer Andrew Cyrille is artist in residence and the festival theme is social justice. There are way too many former show guests there to mention, the full schedule is already up and we’ll have our own annual Cheat Sheet festival guide up right here after New Year’s.

That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is scheduled to be back on WBAI‘s airwaves on January 8. We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.

Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.

We’re off this week, but head on over to our archives for last week’s show with pianist David Virelles and nearly 7 years of archived shows. And let’s get to our music listings.

Pianist Harold Mabern leads a trio at Smalls on the 21st then closes out the year at Smoke with a John Coltrane tribute from December 22nd-January 1st. Trombonist Steve Turre joins him as a special guest on the 29-30.

Not to be outdone by the Winter Jazz Fest, Vision Fest promoters Arts for Art is again sponsoring a nearly monthlong series throughout January of music, poetry, dance, and visual art titled “Justice is Compassion/ Not a Police State” at the Clemente Soto Velez Center on the Lower East Side. Poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez, bassist William Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, and dancer Patricia Nicholson Parker are just a few of the many involved.

Finally, looking much further ahead, the Winter Jazz Fest has released a teaser and preliminary lineup for the 2017 shinding from January 5-10! We’ll have a lot more to say about it, but for now, we’ll point you to their promo video with the highlights.

That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is scheduled to be back on WBAI‘s airwaves on December 25 (yes, we’re working on Christmas Day). We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.

Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.

This week’s show features pianist David Virelles and a return visit by Winter Jazz Fest promoter Brice Rosenbloom. You can see Virelles on January 7th at the Winter Jazz Fest with Tomasz Stanko’s quartet and in a duo with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. Stay tuned for our upcoming annual cheat sheet with an in-depth preview. We also have a few autographed vinyl copies of Virelles’s brand new release titled Antenna, courtesy of ECM Records as a thank you gift for a $35 pledge to support WBAI Radio. You can call in while we’re on air at 516-620-3602 or pledge online anytime during the next week while the mini December Fund Drive is going on, although it really helps if you pledge while we’re on air. Now let’s get to our music listings.

Finally, looking much further ahead, the Winter Jazz Fest has released a teaser and preliminary lineup for the 2017 shinding from January 5-10! We’ll have a lot more to say about it, but for now, we’ll point you to their promo video with the highlights.

That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is scheduled to be back on WBAI‘s airwaves on December 25. We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.

Welcome to Suga in My Bowl radio‘s weekly feature, On The Bandstand, where we collect upcoming NYC area shows from current and past Suga’ guests. We’re online weekly and on the air on NYC’s WBAI-FM radio alternate Sunday nights from 11 PM -1 AM. Keep up with us via Facebook, the blog here, or our main website, or Twitter and we’ll keep track of the schedule for you.

We’re off this week, but head on over to our archives for last week’s show with bassist Dave Holland and nearly 7 years of archived shows. And let’s get to our music listings.

Bassist Mimi Jones leads a jam session in the late set at Smoke on December 5th and continuing on Monday nights. She’s also leading an ensemble at Spanish Manor in Newark NJ on the 6th as part of the Blues People Festival.

Finally, looking much further ahead, the Winter Jazz Fest has released a teaser and preliminary lineup for the 2017 shinding from January 5-10! We’ll have a lot more to say about it, but for now, we’ll point you to their promo video with the highlights.

That’s all for now. Suga’ in My Bowl is scheduled to be back on WBAI‘s airwaves on December 11. We’ll also have another edition of “On the Bandstand” online next Sunday with a fresh set of listings.

—-Hank Williamsis an associate producer for Suga’ in My Bowl on WBAI Radio and webmaster for the Suga’ and Behind the Mic sites. He is also a PhD candidate in English and Africana Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter and Lehman Colleges and The City College of New York.